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“She’s keeping an eye on your brothers. They’re helping her plant the flowers. They have to be put in soil or they’ll die.”
“And you gotta water ’em,” Charlotte said, nodding her head in a serious manner. “I’m gonna feed my worms when I get home. Addy said she’s gonna find out what they wike to eat.”
“Oh my gosh, she’s just so cute,” Tara trilled, refusing to let go of his arm even though they’d arrived at their destination. He really wanted her to let go. Looked weird to have her cuddled up to him when he barely knew her.
Lucas pulled his arm from Tara’s so he could remove his wallet from his back pocket. Ten seconds later and twenty dollars lighter, he had a strip of blue tickets and his arm back.
“I wanna butterfly with sparkles,” Charlotte said, dropping his hand and running toward the tents.
Lucas sighed and followed. He wasn’t exactly thrilled to spend his Sunday afternoon at the Spring Fling for Charlotte’s preschool especially when the Spurs were playing on TV. And with Tara tagging along touching him and cooing over Charlotte, he really longed for the recliner, a remote, and some Michelob time. Not that he’d likely get it in that particular household.
“So how is everything going? You seem to be doing okay with the kids… outside of the carpool incident.”
“It’s going okay. Taking care of three children isn’t for the weakhearted.”
“No shit.” Tara shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jeans making her breasts bulge against the T-shirt she wore. He’d give the woman credit for having a nice rack. Even though he wasn’t interested in Tara, he wasn’t dead.
To his right, he spied a concession stand offering beer and wine. Silver lining.
“If you’ll keep an eye on Charlotte, I’ll buy you a drink.”
“Now you’re talking, cowboy.” Tara smiled and he noted she had a lot of teeth. Straight white expensive-looking teeth. She was pretty, but not his type.
“Beer or wine?”
“White wine,” Tara said, keeping her breasts front and center while rubbing together her glossy lips and sliding her gaze down his body.
Made him feel like a deer in a rifle scope.
Lucas double-checked on Charlotte who balanced on a small stool under the ministrations of a teenaged girl and slid off to grab a beer and white wine. A few minutes later he was back and Tara wasn’t alone. A slender man with a receding hairline and a glowering expression stood beside her, holding onto the hand of a boy whose face was smeared with cotton candy.
“Way to be obvious, Tara. You’re forty for Christ’s sake, and you’re dressed like a whore at your son’s school fair,” the man said.
“Shut up,” Tara hissed under her breath. “I’ve seen what you’ve been dating. You’re lucky you’re not in jail.”
“Ah, someone’s jealous… not to mention past her shelf date,” he returned, a mean smile playing about his lips.
Lucas wasn’t interested in Tara, but he could tell her ex-husband was a jerk. Something cruel lurked in the man’s eyes.
“Here you go, babe,” Lucas said, curving an arm around Tara’s waist. She stiffened before relaxing against him. The gratitude in her eyes in that moment was enough to outweigh the difficulty he knew he’d have convincing her he was not into her.
“Thank you, Lucas,” Tara said, smiling up at him.
“You ready to move to the duck pond? Charlotte’s finished,” Lucas said, nodding toward the ex-husband. The man’s self-satisfied smile vanished, and he stepped back quickly, releasing the boy’s hand. Tara reached down and picked up her son’s hand, rubbing some of the candy gunk off his chin.
“I’m Sam Lindsey,” the man said, holding out a hand.
Lucas took it and gave him a punishing handshake. “Lucas Finlay.”
Sam resisted wincing, but Lucas knew he’d gotten the message. Nothing Lucas hated worse than a bully. Sam had pretentious prick written across his forehead. In fact, it was almost a blinking marquee.
“Okay, let’s go,” Tara said, tossing her ex a smile that said, “eat shit and die.”
Charlotte ran to Lucas, skidding to a stop in front of him. Preening she put her little hands on both sides of her face. “What am I, Uncle Wucas?”
“A sparkling butterfly!” he proclaimed.
“Yes!” Charlotte bounced up and down… and nearly hit the dirt.
